Felt Dogs by Mitsuki Hoshi aka Teaching Myself Needle Felting

When I was in a couple of my design classes at Mass Art, one of my buds Clare was always using this awesome felting technique in her designs. She was self taught (I believe) and assured us that it wasn't that difficult to learn. I am not one who is usually a huge fan of wool but when Laurence King Publishing offered me the opportunity to take a peek at Felt Dogs by Mitsuki Hoshi before it's release in mid March, well I couldn't resist the chance to put another tool in my design/crafty tool box.

This book features 12 popular breeds (Miniature Dachsund, welsh Corgi, Miniature Schnauzer, Pug, Chihuahua, Labrador Retriever, Shiba, Maltese, Beagle, Toy Poodle, Boston Terrier, Miniature Pinscher)

Felt Dogs demonstrates basic methods for creating each dog followed by variations on poses in order to give each dog an individual personality. Each chapter contains dedicated assembly instructions, measurements and actual-size photographs, which is helpful when you are a visual learner like me. The book is suitable for beginning to advanced needle-felters so fit right up my alley... very beginner!

I will say that finding all of the supplies was a bit more of a challenge than I would have thought, and I had to wait for shipments from Amazon in order to start the whole "felt dog making process". The book was very instructive and also the craft of wool felting lends itself to a "creative freedom" that I personally appreciate. I tried my hand at one of the simpler designs, the Labrador Retriever. Please note: felting needles are SHARP and you will stab yourself if you are not careful. That being said, while the process was a bit time consuming to teach myself, the book was very helpful, colorful and stylized. I think I successfully pulled off a Lab with a tad bit longer legs than they instructed me to make... but hey, dogs can have long legs!

I am looking forward to trying my hand at some of the other breeds and making these for some of my friends who love their pooches. It's certainly a craft that I can do without taking up too much space and without making too big a mess, so it's likely one of the man's faves too! What do you think? Would you give Felt Dogs a try?

Find Felt Dogs on Amazon, Laurence King, and more!

*Laurence King provided me an advanced copy of Felt Dogs. All opinions are 100% my own.